Employees are drawn to competitive salaries and health benefits.
Other than the regulations imposed by states like Massachusetts, most employers are not required by law to offer health insurance benefits to employees. The majority of larger businesses do tend to offer health insurance plans in an effort to attract and retain quality employees. Once an employer chooses to offer a health insurance plan to employees, the employer then becomes bound by federal and state laws concerning health insurance regulations designed to protect an employee's rights.
Anti-Discrimination
Health insurance is designed to help cover health care costs.
Employers who offer health insurance to employees are required to offer the same level of coverage to all regular full-time employees without unlawful discrimination because of disability or economic status. An employer is forbidden to exclude an employee from a company insurance policy on the basis of developing health concerns with the employee or with the employee's family members. If an employee develops health problems that increase the cost of the health insurance premium, the employer is not allowed to discontinue enrollment in the company health benefits. Employers may not charge higher premiums to lower wage employees than higher paid employees, and insurance companies may deny coverage to an employer caught practicing discrimination amongst employees.
COBRA
Employees with health conditions may need COBRA.
COBRA is known as the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. COBRA allows workers and their families to continue their health insurance coverage for a period of 12 to 18 months in the event of lost health insurance benefits resulting from involuntary job loss, reduction in the hours worked or job transition due to death or divorce. Employees have the right to continue their health insurance coverage if they decide to pay the full health insurance premium for uninterrupted coverage. Employers are required by law to notify employees of this right to continue benefit coverage in writing at the time of job resignation or termination, or within 10 days of the employee's last day of regular full-time work.
ERISA
Employees must be notified of health plan details in writing.
In 1974, a federal law called the Employee Retirement Income Security Act was passed and became known as ERISA. ERISA sets a standard for the proper handling of voluntarily established pension and health plans offered by employers. ERISA was designed to protect the rights of the employee participants in the plans and requires plan administrators to provide information about the plan features such as how the plan will be funded and managed, the fiduciary responsibilities of those in charge of asset management and the rights each employee has as an enrollee in the plan. ERISA also requires that employees be notified of eligibility standards of the plan in addition to claim procedures, participant rights and changes to the plan.
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